Can exhauster



Patented May 15,1923.

UNIED STES JOHN F. ANDERSON, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

CAN EXHAUSTER.

Application filed March 22, 1922. Serial No. 545,779.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Join: F. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda andState of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Exhausters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is a can exhauster for exhausting the air from and preheating filled cans of fruits or other products so that they, may be effectively sealed when their heads are put on, and the purpose of my lnvention is to provide an exhauster of improved construction which will be eflicient in operation.

Referring to the annexed drawing in which my invention is illustrated and which forms a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is an end view of my exhauster, with parts broken away to show the interior structure.

Figure 2 is a plan view of my exhauster partly broken away to show certain features of construction.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of my exhauster partly broken away to show certain features of construction.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 3 of the cam advancing mechanism.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the cam feedin mechanism.

In t e drawings 1 and 2 indicate standards between and upon which is mounted a drum 3, made in two sections, a lower section 4 and an upper section 5, saidlower section being secured to said standards and said upper section being removably mounted up on said lower section. A shaft 6 extends longitudinally through the upper section 5 of the drum 3 and is journaled at its ends in bearings 7 and 8 on the upper ends of the standards'l and 2 respectively. On the shaft 6, within the drum 3 is mounted a reel 10 which comprises a pair of end spiders 11 and 12 and a plurality of can shelves 13 pivotally suspended on the arms of said spiders. Each shelf 13 comprises a pair of inverted double forked frames 14 and 15 and apair of guideways 16 and 17 arranged side by side,

each guideway comprising a pair of angle irons 18, the inner angle iron of each guideway being secured at its ends to the intermediate arms 19 of frames 14 and 15, the outer.

angle iron of the guideway 16 being secured at its ends to the outer arms 20 of the frames 14 and 15, and the outer angle iron of guideway 17 being secured at its ends to the outer arms 21 of the frames 14 and 15. The frames 14. and 15 are pivotally' suspended at the juncture of their arms 19, 20 and 21 by means of pivots 22 and 23 to the arms of the spiders 11 and 12. The reel 10 is driven intermittently through the medium of a Geneva intermittent movement 24, the slotted star wheel 25 of which is secured on the forward end of said shaft and the pin and. lock wheel 26 of which is secured on a shaft 27 journaled respectively at its ends in the standard 1 and in a bearing 28 on a bracket 29 secured to said standard. On the shaft 27 is secured a pinion 30 which meshes with a pinion 31 secured on a shaft 32 journaled at its ends in the standard 1 and in a bearing 33 on the bracket .29. A pulley .34 is secured on the outer end of the shaft 32 to which power is applied to drive my exhauster. The cans are fed into the drum 3 onto the shelves 13 of the reel 10 by a feeding mechanism 35. Said feeding mechanism comprises a table 36, guideways 37 and 38 on said table, star wheels 39 and 40, a notched wheel 41 and 42, a pusher rod 43 and a feed conveyor 44 delivering onto said table.- The table 36 is mounted on thestandard 1 and extends into the lower part of the forward end of the lower section 4 of the drum 3 through an opening in the forward end of said section. A frame 45 is suspended from the table 36. The star wheels 39 and 40 are secured one above the other on the upper end of a vertical shaft 46 above the table 36 between the delivery end of conveyor 44 and the intake end of guides 37 and 38, which shaft is journaled in bearings 47 and 48 on said table and said frame respectively. The arms 49 of the star wheels 39 and 40 are curved slightly counterclockwise. The notched wheels 41 and 42 are secured one above the other on the upper end of a vertical shaft. 50 on a level with and adjacent the star wheels 39 and 40 re- 9 spectively, with one edge thereof projecting into one side of the delivery end of conveyor 44, said shaft 50 being journaled in bearings 51 and 52 on the table 36 and frame 45 respectively. The wheels 41 and 42 each have 105 a series of six notches 53 in their peripheries which are spaced a short distance apart. over half way around the wheels leaving long arcs 54 of the peripheries of the wheels between the end notches of both series. of

notches. A spring side wall member is secured-to the end of the side wall of the conveyor 44 opposite the notched wheels 41 and 42, which member yields outwardly under the pressure of a cam which fails to enter a notch 53 and is engaged by the periphery of the wheels 41 and 42. A guide 56 is secured to the end of the side wall of the conveyor to which the spring member 55 is secured, which guide extends outwardly to allow said spring member to swing outwardly,

then stright inwardly to a point opposite the end of said spring member and then inwardly slightly at an angle to the star wheels 39 and 40. A pair of four pointed star wheels 57 and 58 are freely j ournaled on the conveyor 44 at opposite sides thereof at such distance apart that perfectly shaped cans may pass between them, but a can bent out of shape will jam between them and prevent said can from traveling further. The conveyor 44 has an extension 59 at one side into which the cans are diverted when an imperfectly formed can jams between the star wheels 57 and 58. These wheels are so spaced and formed that the perfect cans (those of the proper size and perfectly cylindrical) will pass through and into the exhauster. If an imperfect or odd sized can attempts to pass through, it will bind between the wheels 57 and 58 and the following cans will be shoved to one side onto the extension 59. The imperfect can is removed manually and the feeding continues. The pusher rod 43 is slidably mounted in a pivot pin 60 which is journaled in a bearing 61 secured on the table 36. One end of the pusher rod 43 extends between the star wheel 39 and 40, curving around the rear of the hubs of said star Wheels. The other end of said pusher rod is connected to a disk 62 at 63, which disk is secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 64 journaled in bearings 65 and 66 on the table 36 and frame 45 respectively. On the shaft 64 below the table 36 is secured a bevel pinion 67 in mesh with a bevel-pinion 68 on the end of a horizontal shaft 69 journaled in bearings 70 and 71 depending from said table. On the shaft 69 is secured a sprocket 72. A horizontal shaft 73 is journaled at one end in a bearing 74 on the standard 1 and at its other end in a bearing 75 on a bracket 76 secured to the under side of the table 36. A sprocket 77 is secured on the shaft 73. A chain 78 extends over the sprockets 72 and 77. A bevel pinion 79 in mesh with bevel pinion 67 is secured on the end of conveyor shaft 80 journaled in bearings 81 and 82 depending from the table 36 on which shaft is secured the sprocket 83 over which travels the conveyor chain 84 of the conveyor 44, whereby said conveyor is driven. Onthe lower end of shaft 64 is secured a sprocket 85 and on the lower end of the shaft 46 is secured a sprocket 86, over which sprockets extends a chain 87 whereby the star wheels 39 and 40 are driven. A sprocket 88 is secured on the shaft 64 and a sprocket 89 is secured on the shaft 50, over which sprockets extends a chain 90, whereby the notched wheels 41 and 42 are driven. On the shaft 73 is secured a sprocket 91 and on the shaft 32 is secured a sprocket 92 over which sprockets extends a chain 93 through the medium of which the. feeding mechanism 35 and the conveyor 44 are driven A can advancing mechanism 95 is provided for advancing the cans through the guides 37 and 38 and through the lowermost shelves 13 of the reel 10." Said mechanism includes a pair of T-shaped advancing bars 96 and 97, a pair of vertically movable frames-98 and 99, a pair of grooved rollers 100 and 101 journalcd on the upper end of each of said frames onwhich said bars are respectively mounted, a cam shaft 102, cams 103 and 104 on said shaft, and pins 105 and 106 on said frames whiclrare respectively engaged by said cams to raise and lower said frames and said bars. Each frame 97 and 98 has :1 depending fork 107 which straddles the shaft 102, one arm 108 of which forks extends below the other arm through bearings 109 110 respectively on the standards 1 and 2 whereby said frames are mounted to reciprocate vertically. In the upper part of each frame 98 and 99 is mounted a shaft llfion-which the rollers 100 and 101 are journaled. The shaft 102 extends longitudinally under the drum 3 and is journaled at its ends in bearings in the standards 1 and 2. Upstanding pins 1.12 and 113 are securcdto the upper side of the bars 96 and 97 which bars are located so that said pins 112 of bar 96 may be extended upwardly through a slot 114 in the table 36 and guideway 37 and between the angle bars 18-1'8 of the guideway 16 of the lowermost reel shelf 13, and so that the pins 1130f bar 97 may be extended upwardly through a slot 115 in the table 36 and guideway 38 and between the angle bars 18 of the guideway 17 of the lowermost; reel shelf 13. The pins 112 and 113 are spaced so as to engage every three cans in the guidcways 16 and 17 of the reel shelves 13 as will be hereinafter .more fully set forth. On the forward end of the shaft 102 -is secured a bevel pinion 116 which meshes with a bevel pinion 117 on one end of a horizontal shaft 118 journaled in bearings 119 on the standard 1. On the other end of shaft 118 is secured a bevel pinion 120 which meshes with a bevel pinion 121 on thejshaft 73. The shaft 102 is driven through the medium of bevel gears 121 and 120, shaft 118 and bevel g'ears 117 and 116. On the-shaft 118 is secured a crank 122 to which is connected the forward end of a link 123, the other endof said link being connected to the under side of the bars 96 and 97 by a pin 124 extending throu h ears 125 depending'from said bars, where y said bars are reciprocated. V

A discharge mechanism 130 is mounted on the rear end of the exhauster for discharging the cans from the lowermost shelf 13 of the reel 10 onto a discharge conveyor 131. Said discharge mechanism comprises a disk 132, a disk 133 and a guideway 134. The disk 132 is secured on the upper.

end of a shaft 135 journaled in a bearing 136 on the standard 2 and extends into the rear end of the lower sectibn 4 of drum 3 through an opening 137 in said end of said drum section on a level with and adjacent the rear end of the guideways 16 and 17 of the lowermost shelfl3 of reel 10. On the lower end of the shaft 135 is secured a bevel pinion 138 which meshes with a bevel pinion 139 on the rear end of the shaft 102 whereby the disk 132 is rotated clockwise. The disk 133 is secured on the u per end of a shaft 134 journaled with its edge below the edge of disk 132 in a bearing 135 on the standard 2. The guideway 134 extends around the outer portion of the disk 132 from the rear end of the lowermost reel shelf 13 over the intersection of the edges of said disk and the disk 133, and the outer side rail 140 of said guideway extends over the outermost edge of disk 133 to the discharge conveyor 131.

The filled cans of fruit or other products are conveyed by the conveyor 44 to the table 36 whereby they are first engaged in the notches 53 of notched wheels 41 and 42 and delivered to the star wheels 39 and 40 between the arms 49 thereof. If a can fails to enter the notch 53 and is engaged by the periphery of the notched wheels 41 and 42, it is forced against the spring side wall member 55 which yields outwardly until a notch comes opposite the can and then springs the can'into said notch. The six notches 53 of wheels 41 and 42 .deliver six cans to the notched wheels 39 and 40 and during the interval while the arcs 54 of said wheels are traveling through the end of the conveyor 44 other cans are thereby held back in the conveyor until the cans in star wheels 39 and 40 are delivered alternately into the ends of the guideways 37 and 38, said wheels themselves delivering alternate cans into the guidewav 37 owing to the cans engaging the inwardly curved forward end 150 of the outer side of said guideway, and the pusher rod 43 pushing and delivering the'other al- .ternate cans into the guideway 38. When the six cans have been delivered, three in each chute 37 and 38, the bars 96 and 97 are elevated by the engagement of cams 103 and 104c with pins 105. and 106 and the pins 112 and 113 at theeforward ends of 'bars 96 and 97 project through slots 114 and 115 and engage the outermost cans and by means of cams 103 and 104 lower said bars and said cans are. left in the forward end of said shelf. WVhen the arcs 54 have passed through the end of conveyor 44, the notches 53 of wheels 41 and 42 enter the end of the con veyor 44 and the next six cans are delivered by said wheels into the star wheels 39 and 40, which cans are in the same manneras the aforesaid cans delivered by said star wheels to the guideways 37 and 38. The cams 103 and 104 again raise the bars 96 and 97 and the forward end pins 112 and 113 push the cans in the guideways 37 and 38 into the forward end of the next lowermost shelf of the reel which has rotated to its lowermost position. Cans which are delivered ,to the shelves 13 are successively moved along the same to the rear end thereof by the'successive pins 112 and 113 of the bars 96 and 97 as the succeeding cans are delivered into the forward ends of said shelves. The pins 112and 113 at the rear end of the bars 96 and 97 push the three rearmost cans out of the, rear ends of reel shelf guideways 16 and 17 onto the disk 132 into the guideway 134, which disk conveys said cans through said guideway onto the disk 133 which is turned by suitable gears, delivers the cans thereon into the discharge conveyor 131 which carriesthe cans away.

A roof 150 extends over each shelf 13, to 9 prevent the condensed steam of the shelves above from falling into the cans under the roofs, said roofs being secured at its ends to the upper structure of the shelf frames 14 and 15.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a can exhauster, a heated drum, a reel mounted in said drum, said reel including a plurality of pivotally suspended longitudinal shelves, means for intermittently rotating said reel, a feeding mechanism for feeding the cans into the forward end of the lowermost shelves while said shelves are at rest in said position, said feeding mechanism including a delivery conveyor, notched wheels extending into one side of the delivery end of said conveyor for engaging the cans and delivering them from the delivery end of. said conveyor, star wheels adiacent the delivery end of said conveyor for receiving the cans delivered therefrom, a pair of guideways extending from said star wheels to a point corresponding to the lowermost position of the reel shelves into one of which guideways said star wheels deliver alternate cans, and a pusher rod for delivering the other alternate cans from said star wheels into the other guideway; means for advancing the cans through said guideways onto said reel shelves and rearwardly through said shelves, and a discharge mechanism at the rear end of the reel to receive the cans advanced through the reel shelves.

2. In a can exhauster, a heated drum, a reel mounted in said drum, said reel including a plurality of pivotally suspended longitudinal shelves, means for intermittently rotating said reel, a feeding mechanism for feeding the cans into the forward end of the lowermost shelves while said shelves are at rest in said position, said feeding mechanism including a delivery conveyor, notched wheels extending into one side of the delivery end of said conveyor for engaging the cans and delivering them from the delivery end of said conveyor,

star wheels adjacent the delivery end of said conveyor for receiving the cans delivered therefrom, the notches in said notched wheels being uniformly spaced only part way around their peripheries leaving a portion of their peripheries between the last notches for holding back the cans in said conveyor for an interval whereby the cans are delivered to the star wheels in groups of a certain number and at a certain 1nterval'and distance apart, a pair of guideways extending from said star wheels to a point corresponding to the lowermost position of the reel shelves into one of which guideways said star wheels deliver alternate cans, and a pusher rod for delivering the other alternate cans from said star wheels into the other guideway; means for advancing the cans through said guideways onto said reel shelves and rearwardly through said shelves, and a discharge mechanism at the rear end of the reel to receive the cans advanced through the reel shelves.

3 In a can exhauster, a heated drum, a reel mounted in said drum, said reel including a plurality of pivotally suspended longitudinal shelves, means for intermittently rotating said reel, a feeding mechanism for feeding the cans into the forward end of the lowermost shelves while said shelves are at rest in said position, said feeding mechanism including a delivery conveyor, notched wheels extending into one side of the delivery end of said conveyor for engaging the cans and delivering them from the delivery end of said conveyor, star wheels adjacent the delivery end of said conveyor for receiving the cans delivered therefrom, a pair of guideways extending from said star wheels to a point corresponding to the lowermost position of the reel shelve-s, into one of which guideways said star wheels deliver alternate cans, and a pusher rod for delivering the other-alternate cans from said star Wheels into the other ideways; means for advancin the cans t roagh said guideways onto sai reel reel to receive the cans advanced through the reel shelves.

4. In an exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber, a longitudinally slotted shelf traversing a path in said chamber, reciprocating means positioned-to lie adjacent the shelf at one point in its travel and having means thereon to extend through said slot in the shelf during one direction of movement of said member, whereby the articles on the shelf may be advanced along the length of the shelf.

5. In an exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber, a slotted shelf traversing a path in said chamber, reciprocating means positioned to lie adjacent the shelf at one point in its travel, means for shifting said member toward and away from said shelf when the latter is positioned adjacent said member, and means on said member to extend through said slot in one of the shifted positions of said member for moving articles on the shelves.

6. In an exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber, a slotted shelf traversing a path in said chamber, reciprocatin means positioned to lie adjacent the shel at one point in its travel, means for shifting said member toward and away'from said shelf when the latter is positioned adjacent said member, means on said member to extend through said slot in one of the shifted positions of said member and during the reciprocating movement of said member in one direction, whereby the articles on the shelves'may be advanced along the latter.

7. In an'exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber, a longitudinally slotted shelf operated to traverse a path in said chamber, a member positioned to lie under said shelf at a point in its travel and reciprocably longitudinally of the shelf, and means for shifting said member toward the shelf when the-latter overlies said member and during the longitudinally reciprocating movement of said member in one direction, longitudinal arranged and equi-spaced projections on said member adapted to project through said slots in the shelf to engage between articles on the shelf when said member is shifted toward the latter, whereby articles on the shelf may be moved, said shifting means movin said member away from the shelf to with raw said projections from said slot during the longitudinal reciprocalength of the shelf by the repeated operations.

8. In an exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber having a plurality of slotted shelves revolving in vertical path therein with an intermittent movement, a mechanism for feeding groups of articles to be introduced successively on each shelf during a rest interval, mechanism for introducing and advancing said articles on the shelves and positioned to have each shelf successively overlie it during one of its respective rest intervals, said advancing mechanism comprising a bar, means for raising and lowering said bar at the rest intervals of the shelves, upstanding pins spaced longitudinally on said bar, means for reciprocating said bar, whereby said pins, when the bar is raised and reciprocated in one direction, will engage between each group of ar ticles and advance them one step along the shelf rearwardly from said feeding means, and a discharge mechanism at the rear of the chamber to receive the articles shifted from the shelves.

9. In an exhauster of the kind described, a heated chamber having a plurality of shelves revolving in a vertical'path therein with an intermittent movement,mechanism for feeding roups of articlesto be intro duced on sai' shelves during their rest. interval, mechanism for introducing and advancing the articles on the shelves and positioned to underlie the shelves during their rest intervals, said last mentioned mechanism including means reciprocable longitudinally of the shelves, and means for raising and lowering said reciprocating means at the rest intervals of said shelves, said reciprocating means engaging between each group of articles on a shelf and advancing them along the shelf one step, when said reciprocating means is raised and recipro cated in one direction; and discharge mechanism to receive the articles shifted from the feeding the cans in groups of a certain numher at a certain distance apart, an advancing mechanism for advancing said cans through the lowermost reel shelves, said advancing mechanism comprising a bar, upstanding pins on said bar, spaced longitudinally of said bar, means for raising and lowering said'bar, means for reciprocating said bar, so that said pins, when the bar is raised and moved rearwardly will engage said groups of cans and move said cans rearwardly through the lowermost reel shelves and a discharge mechanism at the rear end of the reel to receive thecans advanced through said lowermost shelves.

11. In a can exhauster, a heated chamber, a member traversing a path in 'the chamber and having a plurality of shelves thereon, each shelf comprising a pair of inverted fork like frames pivotally suspended from said member, and angle irons, two ,angle irons being secured respectively to opposite sides of each intermediate prong of said forked frames and two other angle irons being secured respectively to the outer prongs of said frames to form two guideways, between the intermediate prongs and the outer prongs respectively; means for feeding the cans into one end of said guideways, advancing means for projecting between the angle irons of each guideway to advance the cans along said guideways, and means for receiving and conveying the cans removed from said shelves.

12. In a can exhauster, a heated drum, a reel mounted in said drum, said reel including a plurality of pivotally suspended shelves, each shelfcomprising a pair of inverted three pronged forked frames pivotally suspended from the ends of the reel respectively, and four angle irons, two ofsaid angle irons being secured respectively to opposite sides of the intermediate prong of said forked frames and the other two angle irons being secured respectively to the outer prongs of said, frames to form two guideways, between the intermediate prongs and the outer prongs respectively; means for feeding the cans into one end of said guideways, advancing means for projecting between the angle irons of each guideway to advance the cans along said guideways,

and means for receiving and conveying the JOHN F. ANDERSON. 

